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SPEECHES 



OF 



Ma J. Wm. a. Stokes, 



U. S. ARMY, 



HoK Edgar Cowan, 



U, S. SENATE. 



DELIVERED AT THE 



Union Convention, Westmoreland County, Pa. 



SEFXEIvIBEPl, 1861. 



P I T T S B TJR. a- K : 
FEINTED BY BAKE & MYEKS, COR. FIFTH * WOOD STREETS. 

1861, 




^ASI 



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/•■ -'// 



MAJ. STOKES' SPEECH. 



9 

Honored, Fellow Citizens, by your invitation of to-day, I am 
still more honored by bding the advocate of our Country — yet loved 
and venerated by all but those whose treason has changed a benifi- 
cent mother into an avenging ruler, and who hate the name justly 
invoked to repel their attacks and punish their crimes. Justice 
never sleeps, but unceasingly pursues those who outrage her com- 
mands, presenting every where and always to the eyes and minds 
of murderers, robbers and traitors, a horrid spectacle, awful, inflex- 
ible, armed with the lightning of the Divine wrath, and sure soon 
to strike with resistless power. 

It is this — this abject fear of punishment — this trembling of the 
arraigned culprit, which is now the impelling motive of the chiefs of 
the rebellion and which prolongs — for the hope of favorable ne- 
gotiation — a contest known to be hopeless. Disappointed ambition, 
pride of position, self-assumed superiority, the resolve to rule or 
ruin, originated the demands, denunciations and threats of 1860; in- 
tensified by inherent virulence of political poison, into the treason 
of 1861, and culminating in the formation of a pretended nation — 
alas, too, in the fire and blood of military conflict. 



Save in a single State, the majority of the people are still loyal 
— deluded but honest — and ready, at the right moment, to demand 
the freedom of which usurpers have temporally deprived them. 
Masses of men are never fools in their deliberate conclusions. God 
has given them a mysterious and instinctive wisdom. But for this, 
self government would be impossible — but for this despotism alone 
would be legitimate — but for this, the Constitutions under which we 
live would be lies and snares, for they all proclaim, following the 
Declaration of Independence, that governments derive their just 
powers from the consent of the governed — denial of which in the 
case of Kansas, was the first fatal error of Mr. Buchanan, who 
yielding thus to the arrogant dictation of Slave Oligarchs and vio- 
lating at once his pledged honor as a gentleman and his sworn du- 
ty as President, opened the way for the unnumbered woes under 
which the Nation now groans. In the first flush of power of the 
Administration which I had assisted to elect, I publicly denounced 
this baseness. Westmoreland led the way in assertion of political 
integrity, irrespective of party ties. Let the dead bury the dead, 
but let not imbecility, timidity and corruption pass unreproved out 
of that false sympathy which would deprive the world of the whole- 
some warnings of historic reprobation. 

But, irrespective of remote causes, let us look at the facts before 
us, and let us look them fearlessly in the face. Let us not be de- 
ceived by our wishes, above all let us not be deluded by hollow 
hopes. "We are in the midst of one of the most tremendous wars 
ever waged on earth. The intcnser the conflict the speedier the 
end. There are those who cry "peace, peace, when there is no 
peace." False teachers of fatal folly ! I, too, am for peace, but 
— all hope of milder means being gone — for peace by a treaty writ- 
ten by the sword, in letters of blood, and proclaimed in the thun- 
ders of our victorious cannon. Eightly to rebuke rebellion we must 
accept its own test, and defeat it by the judgment of its own tri- 
bunal. It has appealed to arms, and if we evade or avoid the final 
and irrepealable sentence of the sword, we encourage subsequent 
attack. To make peace Avith armed traitors is to offer a premium 
to armed treason ; and to give impunity to — to sanction — to share, 
the greatest of human crimes. It would be no peace, for there 
would be neither concord to unite, nor strength to control, nor jus- 



tice to punish. Is it not monstrous to sacrifice safety, life, lib- 
erty — all that it dear and sacred — to the delusions of folly or the 
wiles of enmity ? No, if you are right and strong, strike boldly the 
decisive blow which shall kill the monster forever. If vou are wrono- 
or weak, withdraw your fleets, disband your armies, and proclaim 
your error and impotency. Surely it is neither Avise nor valiant to 
yield to demands backed by force. If noiv you surrender to dic- 
tation, for what has the National treasure been expended, for what 
has your brother's blood been shed ? 

You know, my friends, that I was, last winter, the zealous ad- 
vocate of concession and compromise, for I thought conciliation, if 
possible, on any terms, at once the truest policy and the highest 
duty. But when the crisis came, when all hope of concord was 
gone, when an open organization defied the power of the Govern- 
ment, when every offer was spurned, and a direct attack was made 
upon our flag, when the symbol of the Republic ceased to protect 
our people and became the warrant of violence toward them — then 
I felt that justice and mercy united in demanding the most ener- 
getic measures for rebuke of these insolent assumptions, and repres- 
sion of these hostile acts. You well know that those who were last to 
abandon hope of peace, were first to declarefor the integrity of the 
Union at all hazards and at every cost. I mean to speak plain- 
ly. I opposed Mr. Lincoln's election — fairly, sincerely, and from 
political principles which I then held and still hold. But he was 
elected, and he is my President as much as if I had voted for him, 
for he is President under the terms of the Constitution which I have 
often sworn to support. I am a citizen of the Republic — title broad- 
er, higher, more glorious than any party name ; involving obliga- 
tions more solemn and sacred than any political relation. In truth 
the Democratic creed, announcing for its cardinal maxim, the su- 
premacy of the Constitution, Democrats best demonstrate their par- 
ty fidelity by fidelity to the. elect of the Constitution ; nor is this 
paramount duty diminished because we are defeated in an election, 
any m.ore than it is strengthened when we are successful. Fellow 
Democrats, allow me thei'efore to say, that you best prove your par- 
ty purity by sustaining the existing Government, especially in its ef- 
forts to enforce the energetic declaration of our illustrious champion, 
Andrew Jackson — ''the Federal Union, it must and shall be pre- 



6 

served" — mighty ■will, in few words expressed, and directed, when 
first uttered, against the father of the secession heresy, John 0. 
Calhoun. Westmorelanders, in our county, Jackson was first nom- 
inated for the Presidency; it is fit, therefore, that the Star of the 
West should shine in all her brilliancy, to illuminate the path in 
which those tread, who now succeed him, in declaring for the per- 
petuity of our Government. 

Give the Executive a fair chance, by yielding your hearty sup- 
port; do not madly commit political suicide, by permitting minor ' 
considerations of detail to obstruct the gigantic efforts of a great 
people to free themselves from the grasp of a serpent which, 
while the Nation slept in supposed security, has coiled its slimy 
folds around the body of the State ; and is ready to crush it in its 
corrupt embrace, while striking to the vitals its poisonous fangs. 

Talk of coercion! Government is coercion — lawful force to re- 
strain violators of law. The duty of obedience admits the right to 
command. Right is in its inherent nature self-vindicating. The 
limit of its power is to be found in the pending necessity, and no 
exercise of authority is unlawful, which is not wantonly beyond the 
exigency which demands its use. All presumptions, especially in 
time of war, are in favor of authority; for the essential requisite at 
such time, and the basis of all success, is absolute strength, and none 
but those who exercise it, and are responsible for its abuse, can de- 
termine the degree of force requisite for the public security. The 
safety of the Republic is the Supreme law, binding alike on the Gov- 
ernment and the people. 

I recur to the question — are you right? Answer frankly and 
fairly. Answer so as to save the country, or its present peril will 
speedily become a final catastrophe. It is for all of us to resolve 
and act — Democrats — Republicans — the true men of all parties — 
every citizen worthy of the title — every man, irrespective of pres- 
ent name or former ties, who, animated by patriotic heart, looks 
with clear eye on the tempest which rages around us, and inspired 
by the courage of right and truth, is resolved on the ascertainment 
and vindication of universal political justice, softened by the sym- 
pathy of brotherhood, but strengthened by determination to teach 
traitors that the way of the trxnsgressor is hard. 

On two conflicting and irreconcilable grounds the Southern lead- 



ers put their cause before the -world. First, they allege that the 
government of the United States is a mere confederation of sov- 
ereign and independent States, each having the right to withdraw 
whenever it may see fit to do so — that assumed invasion by the 
North, of the rights of the South, justifies the recision of the con- 
tract of the Constitution ; and they refer to the question of slavery 
in the Territories, the execution of the fugitive slave law and the 
election of Mr. Lincoln, as the main justification of their course. 

The second ground is the reserved right of revolution — the ex- 
igency for resort to which they allege is to be found in the same 
causes on Avhich they argue for the policy of secession. 

The first is said to be sanctioned by the Constitution — the sec- 
ond is in avowed defiance of that instrument. 

Fellow citizens, I deny the right of secession — I deny that the 
Constitution of the United States reserves the right to each State 
to withdraw from the Union at any time, on its own mere motion. 
On the contrary I hold that the Federal Government, though of 
limited powers, is a legitimate government for the purposes of it3 
creation, perfect in all its parts, Executive, Legislative -and Judi- 
cial, self-sustaining, independent — making, construing and execu- 
ting its own laws by virtue of it own inherent force. 

Reason revolts from the idea of political suicide — of a contract 
to bind nobody — of an agreement for disagreement — of a union for 
disunion. 

This question was anticipated and determined by the unanimous 
action of the Convention that framed the Constitution, General 
Washington, the President of that body, having by their authori- 
ty, declared in his official letter to Congress submitting the Constitu- 
tion : "It is obviously impracticable in the Federal Government of 
these States to secure all rights of independent sovereignty to each 
and yet provide for the interest and safety of all. Individuals enter- 
ing into society must give up a portion of liberty to preserve the 
rest." * * "It is at all times difficult to draw with precision the 
line between those rights that must be surrendered, and those which 
must be reserved." * * "In all our deliberations on 

this subject we kept steadily in our view that which appears to us 
the greatest interest to every true American, the consolidation of 
our Union, in which is involved our prosperity, felicity, safety, and 
perhaps our national existence." 



8 

In tlie face of this explicit and conclusive extemporaneous expo- 
sition, 'solemn and binding almost as the letter of the Constitution 
itself, Congress, States, and people acted. The ratijBcation of the 
Constitution closed the question of State Sovereignty, until the 
generation of the Revolution had passed away, and, until, in evil 
days, it was revived to answer the desperate ends of designing dem- 
agogues. 

But the question now presented by the attitude of the seced- 
ino- States, is one not subject to the tests of the technical lawyer, 
or the results of abstract philosophical speculation, or even of his- 
torical authority. 

We stand in a momentous time, in the presence of appalling 
FACTS. Are we equal to the time and its duties — can we compre- 
hend these facts and their consequences? If we are not — if we 
cannot — the death knell of the Republic is already rung — the 
great experiment has failed — the demonstration is complete that 
man is incapable of self-government^depotism has forever triumph- 
ed over liberty. 

Denying the doctrine of secession, I admit the right of revolu- 
tion. It is a right reserved by every people in every government 
— without it tyranny would be eternal. Its exercise is in the sole 
judgment of those who assei't it. Its vindication is in the result of 
war. But resort is only to be had to this extreme remedy, as Mr. 
JefiFerson well said, when tyranny becomes overwhelming, not for 
light and transient causes, and only when all other means of re- 
dress have failed. It is the desperate and tardy remedy for accu- 
mulated, intolerable and hopeless wrongs. Its declaration of war 
is in the thunder tones of a people united by the external pressure 
of a crushing oppression, and nerved to i-esistence by the extremi- 
ty of a common suffering. 

Did any of these conditions exist when the present rebellion 
broke out? Not one. We were all living under a government the 
best the world has ever seen — well illustrating the maxim that the 
best government is that which governs least : and known only by 
tbe blessings it dispensed. 

As to slavery in the Territories, they had it by legislation and 
judicial decision, all their own way. Southern statesmen first de- 
manded that it should be simply a domestic question, for the peo- 



9 

pie of the Territories to settle among tnemselveg. By the Com- 
promise Acts and the Kansas and Nebraska Act they got this. 
They were beaten at their own game by the popular voice in Kan- 
sas, and, changing their ground, they invoked judicial authority 
for the universality of slavery. This also they secured, according 
to their construction of the Dred Scott case. How often did this 
minority expect us to change our position, to obey their shifting and 
conflicting commands ? They at length found at Charleston, at 
Baltimore and in the reluctantly aroused masses of the Northern 
Democracy at the polls, the limit of their exactions and of our com- 
pliance. 

As to the fugitive slave law — it is their own work, for their 
own advantage. I agree that hostile legislation in some States 
gave just cause for complaint, not because it off'ered any real ob- 
struction to the execution of the law, but because it violated the 
spirit of concord ; and I agree further, that the barbarous enact- 
ments of som« of the slave States, directed against the safety 
and liberty of our free citizens, although they might well provoke, 
did not justify legislative retaliation. Every State seemed ready 
to repeal its so-called personal liberty bills, when all friendly inti- 
mations were spurned. So far as the legislation of the free 
States was constitutional, no one had any right to complain, least 
of all the special champions of State Sovereignty. So far as it 
might be unconstitutional, it was void, and the Supreme Court, 
largely composed of Southerners, was never reluctant to exercise 
its power in this regard. 

Now in regard to Mr. Lincoln's election. It is not denied that 
it was, in all respects, according to the Constitution. To secede, 
then, on this ground, was virtually to declare that the Constitution 
is not binding in one part of the country because it is binding 
and has been observed in another. The mere fact of opposition 
to a candidate, involves an obligation of honor to recognize his 
election if he is successful. To take, at the same time, the chance 
of success, and avoid the risk of defeat, is the base trick of the ' 
black-leg, who stocks the cards, and is wholly unworthy of those 
who loudly vaunt a special chivalry and a personal honor too sen- 
sitive for equal intercourse with plain men like you and me. 

To all this it is replied, that we were warned beforehand that 



10 

the election of Mr. Lincoln would be deemed and taken as suflS- 
cient cause for dissolving the Union. That is to say, an act 
■wholly unjustifiable in itself is to be justified because it was pre- 
ceded by a threat; or, in other words, insolence is justification for 
crime. This is argument fit only to influence slaves — argument 
repelled by our self respect, and which our self respect forbids us 
to answer. 

In very truth, my friends, the real reason of this revolt is to 
be found in none of these things, but in the impending probability 
that the sceptre of empire was about to depart from the hands 
which had held it almost exclusively from the organization of the 
government — result due to the proved inability of the slave States 
to compete with the free States in the pursuits of industry, and 
consequently in wealth, numbers, intelligence — all that constitutes 
the efiective force of a people. 

All complaints centre in slavery, and yet slavery was totally 
unaffected in the cotton States, which first flew from the glorious 
galaxy. The pretence, therefore, was false, and so the hierarchy 
of evil is completed — complaints, threats, insults, falsehood, 
crime. 

I do not blame the Southern p^ op/e for this. I sympathise with 
them. We are fighting their battle as much as our own. They 
have been the innocent victims of grievous wrong. The leaders 
dared not ask for the expression of their judgment or wishes, 
but cut the Federal tie without the consent of — without consulta- 
tion with, the masses. They did not submit their Secession Or- 
dinances to popular vote, but a few gentlemen, in secret session in 
Convention, assumed, without warrant, to overturn one govern- 
ment and establish another, to release citizens from their alle- 
giance, to compel them to a new and indefinite loyalty ; in short, 
these self-appointed usurpers, undertook to exchange, transfer, and 
convey many millions of men, who supposed themselves free, with 
the same disregard of their subjects' wishes as if they were the 
slaves in fact, which they became by this act. It is true, that 
after hostilities began, a certain ardor of conflict arose in the 
South, and this mere natural spirit of combativeness has been in- 
voked to sanction the pestilent heresy of secession. But in the 
hearts of the people, once their voices can be heard, we shall 



^7* 
11 

find — yes, even in the very streets of Charleston, when the ensign 
of the Republic once more unfolds its stripes and stars,and recalls, 
with mingled pain and pleasure, all its holy memories of glory and 
patriotism — in the hearts of the people we shall find faith, truth, 
loyalty, reverence for the past, hope of the future. Then the 
hour of reckoning will have arrived — then will the tyrants he 
hurled ignominiously from their places — then will right and rea- 
son resume their sway — then will our brethren re-enter the great 
national family — " then the wicked shall cease from troubling, 
and the weary be at rest" — the reign of the Constitution will be 
re-inaugurated, and leaving to our children, unimpared, the rich 
heritage bequeathed to us by our fathers, purged and purified by 
fire and blood, the coming generations shall consecrate our mem- 
ories in eternal gratitude, because neither doubt, nor despondency, 
nor selfishness, has restrained us from vindicating the supremacy 
of the law of freedom by the arms of freemen. 

But, my friends, the soldiers in the field must be sustained by 
their fellow-citizens in civil life, or their efforts will be useless — 
their strength paralyzed. This can only be done by supporting 
the Government — by loyalty, in words and acts, to the country, 
as represented by the constituted authorities. An open enemy in 
the field, with the recognized arms of warfare in his hands, is not 
so dangerous as the secret opponent, who insinuates an opposition 
which he is afraid to avow, whose weapons are hostile criticism of 
the measures of the Government, doubts as to the propriety of its 
movements, affected jealousy of encroachments on popular right, 
morbid sympathy for the sufferings inflicted by or on our armies, 
senseless clamor for peace, without regard to means or terms, pre- 
dictions of disaster, slander of our leaders, exaggerated estimates 
of the cost of war, evil anticipations of impending ruin and uni- 
versal bankruptcy, false and depreciating statements of the im- 
portance of the contest, debasing comparisons between our troops 
and those of the enemy, exultation, thinly veiled under affected 
sympathy, over our reverses, and, as Mr. Webster said, the per- 
petual repetition of the inquiry, "What is all this worth?" or 
those other words of delusion and folly, " Liberty first and Union 
afterwards." Such are the domestic assaults which it is your 
duty to repel. These are the enemies whom you have to combat. 



n 

It is atrocious, that men at home, in security, should he permitted 
to he the effective allies of those who are arrayed against our 
brothers on the field of battle. Their hands are stained with the 
blood which maybe shed by prolonging the conflict, for they sharpen 
tlie daggers directed against the hearts of our soldiers. They give 
that moral aid and comfort to the enemy, which encourages their 
tt eason, by the sympathy they receive, and by the idea of a divided 
North. It is for ^ou to deal with these miscreants — these false 
hearted, black-hearted monsters — these vampires, who suck out 
the very life-blood of the State. Thank God, there are but few 
such miserable wretches — none, I trust, in our county. But 
wherever they are, and whoever they are, treat them as deadly 
foes, whose crimes demand instant and effective vengeance. 
Those who are dead to honor, duty, and patriotism are all alive 
to their own safety, and shrink, with convulsive terror, from the 
lash which they merit. Rely on it, if you enforce the laws — 
ample as they are to punish all offenders — you will soon find but 
few Northern men with Southern principles, foul-mouthed, blath- 
ering their vulgar treason at your cross-roads and street corners. 

This is no longer an open question. The day for discussion 
has passed. The contest is, on our part, as just as was ever any 
effort for self-protection. The war is as holy as any ever waged 
since that directly commanded by God himself, to punish the Ca- 
naanites for their crying sins. No feature of atrocity is wanting 
for warrant of resistance. The Constitution is ignored, the laws 
are annulled, the existence of the Government — of any govern- 
ment — is in peril, the very life of the Republic is in jeopardy, 
our torts, and ships, and troops have been attacked ; the mails, 
the revenue have been stopped ; all authority, legislative, judicial, 
and executive, is defied ; armies have been raised, the Capital is 
menaced, pirates capture our commerce, a price is set on the heads 
of our people, tortures and death, without regard to age or sex, 
have been inflicted on innocent travelers, falsely accused, or 
groundlessly suspected of abolition sentiments — terror reigns 
wherever our enemies hold sway. 

Such is the conduct which has sometimes found defenders even 
in Pennsylvania — dogs baser than spaniels, for even spaniels do 
not court the scourge, though they may submit to it. How their 
Southern allies must despise these reptiles, crawling on their 



^7^ 

18 

bellies, to their master's feet, to lick the dust. My blood boils 
■with indignation as I contemplate these dangerous self-degrada- 
tions. Does yours ? Or does your pulse beat temperately as 
you survey these wrongs, ruins, and ravages ? 

Fellow-citizens, you will be mindful of the glorious record of 
your fathers, written in the French war, the Revolutionary war, 
the war of 1812, and the Mexican war ; you will not forget that 
Pennsylvania was first among the States that formed and ratified 
the Constitution of the Union, and has always been its inflexible 
defender against all opponents and every attack. You will not 
sully the emblazoned pages in which the world reads of your pa- 
triots, and reverences their patriotism, but you will cherish these 
sacred memories, and emulate these heroes of peace and war — you 
will vindicate your birthright by proving that you are worthy 
of it. 

Product of patriotic effort, fruit of toils and dangers, reward of 
wisdom and valor, purchased by suffering and blood, crown of the 
Revolutionary contest, is the Constitution of the United 
States. Its construction was a labor of love ; let it be again and 
perpetually renovated by the political affection of this great na- 
tional family. 

It formed the Union and is its sole security. The Dnion, 
blessed mother of all her children ; bountiful source of the great- 
ness and glory of the Republic ; shield of security ; assurance of 
prosperity ; concentrated wisdom of its immortal authors ; proof of 
their patriotism ; lesson for all nations and ages ; the happy expe- 
dient by which freedom of domestic government is connected Avith 
power in foreign affairs, each ample, neither impaired ; consoling 
evidence that there is in the human soul a divinely inspired spirit 
of concord stronger than arms, capable of political combinations 
for erecting a government more powerful than despotism ; com- 
mended to our affections by the tenderest recollections of the past ; 
mingled with our dearest hopes for the future ; the sacred legacy 
of our ancestors, which we are bound, in faith and honor, to 
transmit unimpaired to our posterity ; hope of the whole world ; 
light of liberty, committed to our care, that its rays, streaming 
across oceans and continents, may beam the radiant glory of 
equality ; the sun in the political firmament, warming, vivifying, 



14- 

and fructifying the seed of freedom, everywhere, so that all peo- 
ple may find final repose under the protecting branches of the 
tree of liberty. 

Not for ourselves alone, but for our race — not for the present, 
only, but for all time, the great question is now to be solved of the 
possibility of sustaining government by moral means — of the fit- 
ness of man for freedom. Dissolve the Union, and Democratic 
liberty is dead — discord rules until despotism succeeds. God pre- 
serve our beloved country from either evil — from the cruel arms 
of conflicting powers, strong in hatred, but too feeble for efiective 
defence, or from the cold silence of subjection to irresponsible 
tyranny ! Heaven to our keeping has entrusted the sacred fire 
of freedom. Let us be true to our trust, that our children may 
«njoy the heritage of liberty, that the nations may rejoice in the 
life and light of Republican truth. 

I have thus, my friends, frankly presented my views. It is 
unusual for officers of the army to deliver public speeches, but 
before I had any knowledge of my appointment, I had promised 
to be present at this meeting, and I felt bound to keep my public 
pledge. It is probably the last time I shall address you, and you 
will therefore permit me to thank you for the kindness and confi- 
dence with which you have long favored me. Our intercourse 
has always been happy and harmonious, and in bidding you fare- 
=well I am oppressed by emotions too profound for utterance. Let 
MS all endeavor, in our respective spheres, TO DO OUR duty, that 
we may have consciences void of ofi'ence, that our children may 
rise up and call us blessed. 



15 



MR. COWAN'S SPEECH. 



My Fkiends : 

The little I liave to add to what Mr. Stokes has so well and 
eloquently said will be from a diflFerent point of view. He has ap- 
pealed to your honor and to your patriotism — I propose to show 
that your interest lies in the same direction. 

I am aware that there are many wise people, who do not see 
very well why we cannot let the seceding States, if they desire it, 
go off and form a confederacy by themselves, while we retain the 
loyal states under the old Union just as before ; some of them think 
this better than to expend, say a thousand millions of dollars to re- 
duce them back to their obedience, and I suppose this is what they 
mean when they recommend peace. 

I think no body whose opinions are entitled to attention, but 
will agree that this Rebellion is one without any good cause 
whatever ; surely the Government, never injured a single one 
of those who are now in arms against it, but on the other hand, it 
has protected them all at all times, and made them the especial 
subject of its favor and benefits, even beyond those of any other 
part of the Union. 

Now, people who revolt against sucli a Government, and without 
cause engage in a bloody war to overthrow it, will not be likely to 
be very peaceable neighbors of ours when they succeed and become 
an independent nation along side of us. If they could not live in 
peace with us in the Union when every body seemed willing to let 



16 

them have their own way, I think there is no hope that we can live 
on terms with them at all when thej go out of it, and when no body 
will be willing to yield them anything more than fair play, with 
the strongest the winners. Then -whether they go or stay, we shall 
have war — terrible war ; but there will be this difference, if we 
conquer them now, there will be an end of the war, and no body 
will be likely to try the experiment over again for long years "to 
come, and w^e shall still save the blessings and benefits of the best 
Government in the world, to the great mass of the people in the 
southern states who are yet loyal, and who if they were not over- 
awed by force and terror would now give us aid. But if we let 
them go, we abandon all these good citizens and true men to their 
mercy, and a state of things will begin to exist which will cause 
never ending war and the total destruction of our present Gov- 
ernment. 

Let us see — if we separate in halves, the frontier between us will 
extend from the mouth of the Potomac westward to some point on 
the boundar3^ line between this country and Mexico ; where, no 
body has yet hinted, nor is it very necessary here to surmise ; cer- 
tainly beyond Texas in any event. 

This is a very long line, and with hot blooded and democratic 
populations, very much imbittered against each other, lying close 
upon both sides — it must be guarded and no expense spared to for- 
tify it at every point, so that neither party can get an undue or 
sudden advantage over the other. A great number of Forts must 
be built, indeed every neighborhood at all exposed will clamor for 
a Fort, and it is easy to see under our system that the politicians 
will locate the forts rather than the engineers, and that there will 
be a great many fat jobs in building them. But more will be re- 
quired besides forts ; there must be armies enrolled to garrison them, 
and other armies for the field, ready in case of emergency to repel 
invasion. These armies must be clothed, fed and equipped ; must 
have officers and arms ; horses and wagons ; and all the parapha- 
nalia of war. Both parties, too, must have navies to guard their 
long lines of sea coast, and to protect their commerce. These na- 
vies will have to be much larger than ours is at present, be- 
cause the enemy will not then be European and far away, but 
American and right at our own doors ; we must therefore be rea- 



17 

dy all the time. Indeed there will be navies even on our great 
rivers ; each must have its fleet of gun boats ready to move here 
and there just as the occasion may require. 

Now I am not able to tell how many forts will be built along 
this long frontier line, but I suppose one might give a pretty 
good guess, after having examined the number built along the fron- 
tier lines upon other continents. Take Europe for example, and 
it would be safe to say that we would have quite as many as her 
people have, because We are not likely to stop at half-way measures 
in our own defence. I cannot tell either how large a standing ar- 
my we will be obliged to keep constantly on foot in order to as- 
sure ourselves of our warlike neighbors — I think, however, that he 
who has footed up the expense of all these things, will not be like- 
ly to stop to count the cost of the present war. 

Still the half is not told, for if we admit the principle of secession 
and allow its fatal wedges to be once entered, who is to vouch for 
the integrity of either the Union or the Confederacy? Surely the 
slave States have no security against secession from their midst ad 
infinitum. The essential virtue of their Union, in theory, is, that it 
is not binding ; in its very inception they stipulate for its dissolution 
and they make its cohesive force depend upon an exact equilibrium 
of interest continually maintained, which is a thing impossible, and 
which if it was possible, would take away the necessity of any gov- 
ernment at all. But let us see how we stand : because if we can- 
not maintain the Union now by force, any body can see we shall 
never be able afterwards to keep what is left of it. What is it 
that now keeps the Pacific States in the Union? Simply the fact 
that they enjoy all the advantages of it at no greater expense than 
they would have if they were out of it ; hence they have everything 
to lose and nothing to gain by withdrawing. But if we required 
them to stand by us in an interminable war with an independent 
people from whom tliey expect no danger — how long would we hold 
them? They might say to us that we would be of great use to them 
in a contest with Mexico or Russia, but as to the Southern Con- 
federacy, they could not afford to pay for a continual war with it — 
it never came in contact with them. 

Again, the Western States must have the free navigation of the 
Ohio and Mississippi, and they will wage eternal war to Becure it, 



18 

because tliey "vvill want to get out into the world through the Gulf 
of Mexico. Suppose, however, that New York, New England and 
Pennsylvania, should get tired fighting and paying taxes to keep 
those rivers open, and should besides hint to Ohio, Indiana, Illi- 
nois and the rest, that they had better come out into the world 
across the Alleghenies, down the lakes, come out at Boston, New 
York or Philadelphia. What then? The Wecst would refuse, of 
course ; and if not predominant in the Union would secede ; if she 
was, then the Atlantic States would secede, and so at the end of 
every difference there would be disruption, until the fragments of 
the Union alone would remain, mementoes of its greatness, and of 
our folly. 

Where would Pennaylvania be in all this discordant clashing of 
interests, and struggle of petty nationalities? The answer lies in 
the familiar metaphor, "when the arch is broken the kei/ stone must 
fall the first, and all the others fall in afterwards upon it." 

So would it be with the Keystone State. It would become the 
theatre upon which all the schemes of the rest wculd be acted out, 
apart from the distruction occasioned by its own internal factions. 

I say, then, that all the probtibilities are that Secession once al- 
lowed to succeed, it will not stop until perhaps there may be a do- 
zen distinct and independent Unions formed of this one. Then 
let him who dares, undertake to calculate the expense. Eighty 
millions of dollars were expended annually by Mr. l>uchanan's ad- 
ministration ; this was in peaceful times, when we had none to make 
us afraid, none to guard against ; with this we kept our little navy 
afloat, and our little army afoot. Now we double the first and 
quadruple the latter ; both necessary, even for a peace footing, if 
we allow this Confederacy to establish itself on our Southern bor- 
der — for a war footing our present array of 300,000 men, now 
in the field, will enable us to judge. Then if we split up still fur- 
ther, still further expenses will accrue, till there will be no limit to 
jur burdens except our ability to bear them, which will be strain- 
ed to the utmost. 

What is to be gained by all this? Will we be any better gov- 
erned than before — any better protected than before? No man 
will answer yea, to these questions. 

There will be a change certainly, and in some respects we 



19 

are able now to specify wherein it will consist. Divided in halves, 
we will have two Presidents, two Vice-Presidents, two Congresses, 
two Cabinets, two armies, and two chances to get office and place 
generally, to one which existed before. If the disunion goes on 
further, the chances for the ambitious increase along with it, till 
we end in discovering the legitimate results of the doctrine of 
Secession ; that is, we have given a bounty for rebellion, and re- 
warded every new crop of traitors with a new crop of offices ; for 
all which the people must pay, and what is more of it, must pay 
directly, because the moment the Union is gone, then there is no 
more Tariff, either for Revenue or Protection. The revenues then 
will be collected by compulsory process, and paid directly out of 
the pockets of the citizens, instead of as at present, when they 
are blended in and paid with the general consumption. 1 think 
this will be the case ; because it will be a less evil than to import 
all the European machineiy necessar}?^ to protect the revenue, if 
it is attempted to levy it off the consumption of the people of the 
several States into which we may dissolve. Europe furnishes us 
again an example of what we may yet come to. If she had been 
able to form and mature a union of all her States, the same as 
ours, she would have had but one executive head, and would have 
been rid of a dozen and their courts — she would then have re- 
ferred her differences to her Congress instead of to those enor- 
mous standing armies which eat out the substance of the people. 
Look at the size of those armies. Russia has some twelve or fourteen 
hundred thousand men, France one million, Austria eight hundred 
thousand, Prussia seven or eight hundred thousand, and so on in 
proportion for the rest, because all must be constantly on the 
guard, and ready, even in times of the most profound peace. 
Then look again at all the other appliances, either for offensive or 
defensive war, such as forts, castles, ships, etc., and we can ap- 
preciate the profound wisdom of the founders of our Government 
in providing against all these enormous evils by the establishment 
of the Union. The circumstances out of which it grew will 
never happen again ; no people ever will have again such great 
leaders, and no leaders again will ever have a people so wise and 
prudent to second and adopt their measures. Let us all then try 
to emulate their courage and imitate their virtues. 



20 

There is another question asked, and which I also propose to 
answer ; that is, whether it is probable we will succeed in sup- 
pressing this great rebellion. Now, of course no man can affirm 
with certainty whether we will or not. That lies in the unknown 
future. Yet there are several important indications apparent, all 
of which point most distinctly to a termination of it favorable to 
the legitimate Government. 

1. No revolution has hitherto succeeded, so far as I know, un- 
less those engaged in it were encouraged and strengthened in 
their eflForts by the reflection that thei/ were resisting tyranny and 
avenging wrong. Or, in other words, they must have felt and 
known they were right, before they could expect or achieve suc- 
cess. Now this element must be totally wanting in the Confed- 
erate army — there is not a man in it, who, if put upon his oath, 
could say that the Government he was trying to overthrow had 
ever injured in any way a single rebel of them all. Nay, if he 
had any conscience left, he would be obliged to go further, and 
admit that the only acts of tyranny to which it ever lent itself 
were committed at the bidding of the rebel leaders, and for their 
especial benefit, when attempting to force the institution of negro 
slavery upon the free people of Kansas, even at the hazard of 
civil war. Where, then, is the impulse to come from which is to 
keep these infatuated men in force sufficient to resist our govern- 
ment ? Masses of men, the same as individuals, require the ap- 
proval of conscience, rather than the stimulus of passion, to 
enable them to persist in such a contest. The first sad and sober 
hour they spend in asking "Are we right ?" will be far more fatal 
to them than the most disastrous battle ; " conscience will make 
cowards of them all" in due time, I think. 

2. It is evident, from all the elections which have been held, 
where the people of the South were allowed to express their real 
opinions, that the majority was always strongly for the Union. 
Now, although it is only a deep sense of intolerable wrong which 
can unite a whole people, and drive them to wage a long and 
destructive war to avenge themselves, yet it is true they might, 
by a very slight ofl"ence, be induced to vote themselves out of the 
society of the oiOFender, or, in other words, to vote peaceable Se- 
cession. We find, however, that the people of the South have 



21 

not felt themselves sufficiently aggrieved even to resort to this 
remedy, if we except, perhaps, the case of South Carolina. 
From all this we are justified in believing that eight out of every 
ten men among them have no heart in the revolution, and will 
cheerfully yield obedience to the United States, as soon as they 
are relieved from the terrorism which now prevents them. 

3. The Avhole strength of the Secession movement, in the outset, 
lay in the particular time in which it was set on foot, which was 
immediately after an exciting election for President, in which all 
of the Southern people had been defeated ; and although there 
might have been a very large majority among them then, who 
were not angry enough to join in a rebellion on that account, yet 
they all were still too much vexed and humiliated to undertake to 
resist those who were willing to do so. The conspirators, too, 
with a kind of diabolical forecast, had contrived to put them all 
in that position, by setting up Mr. Breckenridge to divide the 
Democratic strength with Douglas, thus ensuring the election of 
Mr. Lincoln, who had no party at all among them. And although 
there is no doubt that the leaders of the revolt would have been 
quite as ready to rebel against Douglas as anybody, yet had he 
been elected, they would have found that his friends, although 
but a small minority in the South, would have been still able to 
suppress the first manifestations of their treason. They foresaw 
this, and a solution is given at once of the extraordinary proceed- 
ings in the Charleston and Baltimore Conventions, by which 
Douglas was slaughtered and his friends disarmed. As this be- 
comes better understood, much of their force will be lost — no such 
trick or contrivance ever had any permanent results for its 
authors, and, sooner or later, they will sufi'er the just retribution 
which follows an exposure of it. 

4. Another fraud practiced by them for long, was to allege 
that the moment the North succeeded in electing a President of 
its choice, it would sieze that occasion to interfere with slavery in 
the South, and liberate all the negroes. This absurd bugbear was 
no doubt believed, and did its share to irritate and alarm the more 
ignoiant among them. They are now discovering, however, that 
the North had no such design, and that nothing, unless it is this 
very rebellion, could drive them either to entertain or execute it. 



22 

What has been the fact ? Why, so far from the General Govern- 
ment liberating slaves, the officers of its armies restore them inva- 
riably to Union masters, and in many cases they have even re- 
turned them to rebel owners, in order, no doubt, to dry up such a 
fruitful source of irritation. Still this lenity cannorlong continue, 
and, if the war lasts, the rebels may find themselves bringing upon 
themselves one of the very evils they pretended to avoid by their 
treason. At all events, they are now making nothing by this 
misrepresentation, but are likely to lose by it ; indeed they must 
do so, and heavily, as soon as their deluded followers discover in 
what quarter that danger to them really lies. Would it not be a 
singular retribution, if they were made the ministers of their own 
punishment for this lie, by having it made good by their own 
act ? 

5. Another, and perhaps not the least encouraging symptom of 
the sound health of the nation, is the almost entire unanimity of 
the North in regard to the difficulty, because we all know that if 
there had been the smallest chance for a division, it would have 
divided — nothing prevented it except the utter impossibility of 
justifying the South. Now we have a right to argue from this 
that large numbers of people there think in the same way. It 
cannot be that they are all demented ; no one can think so. And 
if they are not, they will come at last to the right conclusion, and 
act accordingly. They will discover another and more satisfac- 
tory reason for the conduct of their leaders than any they have 
yet considered, namely, that a few ambitious and desperate men, 
finding they were disgraced in the eyes of the people, resolved to 
cover up their private misfortune by involving the nation in a gen- 
eral calamity. They were driven out from the offices they abused, 
and their only hope for the future was in the success of their 
scheme for securing a new lease of preferment in the new govern- 
ment. They don't intend it to be better than the old one, but 
that they may rule it, all of which their people will not be long 
in finding out. 

Lastly, apart from all these, the means and resources of the 
loyal States are far superior to those of the rebels, and if the 
people continue to show the same spirit thus far manifested, these 
will not be spared. True, there are here and there little cliques 



23 

of Traitors, who would, if they could, embarrass the free action 
of the Country in this its hour of trial. But these are mere ver- 
min upon the body politic, and really form no part of it, any more 
than those paraites form part of the animals on which they live. 
They have no affection for their country, never understood the 
principles which govern its action, nor the sentiments which move 
it in its onward career. I am induced to believe their cry for 
peace is a cowardly substitute for the war-cry of Treason ; they 
use it because it is the only means they have of injuring the great 
cause, and not one of them, so far, has yet given us his plan for 
the peaceful solution of the difficulty. Upon what basis are we 
to treat? Will we acknowledge the independence of the South- 
ern Confederacy ? When these questions are answered, we shall 
expect a deputation of these valiant patriots to go down, with dust 
and ashes on their heads, to beg Davis and Co. to negotiate with 
them. It would be well, however, to examine their baggage before 
starting, as well as on their return ; the first no doubt would con.- 
tain contraband, and the last thirty pieces of silver. 

These people pretend to believe that the rebellion is some how 
or other connected with Northern politics, and that Northern men 
ought to differ upon its origin and causes as a matter of course, 
just as they would differ upon governmental measures. Nothing 
could be more false and mischievous than such a view ; no sane man 
either believes or charges upon either of the great parties of the 
North, any complicity with it whatever. Neither Democrats nor 
Republicans are to blame for it in the slightest degree : it is a cre- 
ation of Southern origin entirely, and has been at least 25 or 30 
years in concocting. If the leaders of it have been a long time con- 
nected with the Democratic party, it proves nothing against that 
party, because they joined it, not because they revered its princi- 
ples, but because they thought it was the strongest and would car- 
ry them farther than any other, upon their errand of disunion. 
They remained with it as long as they could bend it to their pur- 
poses, but as soon as it refused to sacrifice the liberties of the coun- 
try to their blind ambition, then they resolved to destroy it, and 
endeavored to achieve their purposes at the Conventions of Charles- 
ton*and Baltimore. All intelligent Democrats see this, and hence 
we find them in this war fighting shoulder to shoulder with their 



24 

Republican rivals. Indeed they have far more cause to quarrel 
with the Secessionists than any other class of our citizens, for af- 
ter bearing with their tyrannical perverseness and political caprices 
till forbearance ceased to be a virtue, and after having lost their 
predominance in the whole North, on account of their fidelity to 
their Southern allies, the reward they received was the contemp- 
tuous disruption of their party, by setting up Breckinridge against 
Douglas, the regular candidate for the Presidency, and finally the 
disruption of the Union, by insolently setting up the Southern Con- 
federacy against it, when the Democratic party was so broken and 
paralysed by treachery in all its high places, that it could not pre- 
vent them. It is easy to see from all this, why Butler and Hal- 
let, of Massachusetts, Dickinson and Dix, of New York, Guth- 
rie, Holt and Speed, of Kentucky, Dallas, Wilkins and Stokes, 
of Pennsylvania, ToD, of Ohio, and a host of leading Democrats 
every where, are the most active and determined of all those who 
are now trying to strangle the serpent of secession in its cradle — 
God speed them, noble men on a noble errand. 

Let stupid and purblind partisans stop and hesitate at the ex- 
ample of these great and good men and patriots, before they in 
their weakness and folly, make themselves partners in the greatest 
treason the world has ever seen. If they are not already devoted 
by the gods to destruction, and therefore first made mad, they will 
profit by that example, and atone for their present ofi'ences by 
seconding the efforts of such men, who are now giving evidence to 
the world of their ability to lead them. Let no private malice, no 
narrow political prejudice, nor any fancied humiliation of themselves, 
prevent a single one from standing by those who have so nobly vol- 
unteered themselves in the cause of the country. And it seems to 
me that if there is one feature of the present struggle calculated to 
discourage those who sincerely love the Union and appreciate the 
blessings it confers, it is that a single man in the North could be 
found so dead to every thing manly, as to refuse his support to 
such leaders. Does such a one want to go down to posterity load- 
ed with the curses of his children, his name abhorred and his mem- 
ory infamous? Let all who needlessly make themselves traitors, 
tremble before a consequence as certain as death and as su^e as 
fate. 



25 

It is not a question as to the measures, but as to the very exis- 
tence of the Government; and he who is not with the Government 
in the struggle now going on, is against the existence of the Gov- 
ernment, whether he knows it or not. The time has come when 
there are only two kinds of men, namely — loyal men smd traitors. 
It is idle for a man to say that he is a Union man, when he says he is 
opposed to the present war ; because the war is for the Union, and 
the Union depends upon our success in it. His pretence is so shallow 
that even the children see through it, and the little boys who play 
on the street will shout traitor after him as he passes. Every ill- 
natured criticism upon the President or upon his Cabinet, come 
from what quarter it may, is a blow struck for the rebels, and is aid 
and comfort for them in every sense, except the strictly legal one. 
Let no man delude himself with the notion that such things can now be 
done with impunity — the stakes for which all are playing are too 
enormous, and he who assists the enemy in any way, is loading the 
dice against his children and grand-children. He might as well 
put them up in the market for sale as slaves, for his conduct would 
make them such. 

The true question however is, are we willing to sustain the effort 
now making to compel obedience to the Constitution and laws? 
Or are we going to shrink from the magnitude of the task, and idly 
trust ourselves to chance for the future? Are we about to rise in 
our might in defence of the Government of our fathers? Or are 
we tamely to sit down beside their graves and allow it to be de- 
stroyed ? Let the young men of the country answer, and upon that 
answer depends the result. I cannot think they will lose this glo- 
rious opportunity to enrol themselves on the lists of fame, by sus- 
taining the national honor and the national fame. What Greek 
was there who was not proud to say that he had fought for his coun- 
try against the Persian at Marathon, Platea or Saiamis? Have we 
no immortal band to devote themselves for us as the Spartans did 
at Thermopylae ? Have we no Leonidas to lead them? Where 
was the Roman who did not boast of having performed his part in 
resisting Hannibal or Pyrrhus in the great battles upon which the 
fate of the Republic depended? Are our youth afraid of losing 
th ir rings and jewelry, and of having them poured out by the bushel 
in triumph on the floor of the Rebel Congress, by the messen- 



26 

gers of Beauregard ? Are they afraid of the scars they may re- 
ceive while fighting under our flag ? If they are then we have lost 
"our breed of noble bloods," and the whip of tyranny must again 
resound to lash us into the proper appreciation of the liberties we are 
about to lose. Dishonorable graves" are yawning every where 
around us — are there cowards who prefer them? If so, then the 
men of the Revolution died childless, and the heritage of glory 
which descended from them has fallen upon serfs. Are there none 
in New England who remember Lexington and Bunker Hill ? Has 
New York no traditions of Saratoga ? Is not Trenton still in New 
Jersey to remind her children of the crossing of the Delaware ? 
Has Pennsylvania forgotten Germantown or Brandy wine ? Surely 
not ! as long as men have red and warm blood in their veins, the 
story of those battle fields will stir it in vindication of the mighty 
dead, who struggled for them then against the most formidable 
power on earth, and achieved for us that which has ennobled, or 
ought to have ennobled us — Independence. Still the young Re- 
public was baptized in the blood of another Avar. Is the heroism 
of that one forgotten too ? Have the sons of those who fought at 
North Point submitted to mobs and treason, and the heirs of Bar- 
ney's glory, yielded to a reign of terror? Surely the people of 
the Southern States will not allow any longer this wicked crusade 
against the Union their fathers did so much to create, and suffered 
so much to preserve ? Will not the loyal men there soon recur to 
the past for guidance as to the future. Have we all degenerated 
away from the heroic, till we are the prey of thieves and robbers? 
I trust that we have not yet fallen so low as to disgrace ourselves 
without an effort, because if we fail in this war and this cause, 
then we are a by- word and a reproach among the nations, and un- 
worthy the respect of even the meanest of them all. No men 
ever before had so glorious an opportunity to adventure them- 
selves in the battle field, nor ever had a chance so fair, a cause so 
just, or a foe so wicked. We have had crusades to rescue the 
holy land from the grasp of the infidel ; we have had holy wars in 
which one religion defended itself against another ; but this is of 
far more moment than either; our land is sacred too, but as the 
home of freemen, and our war is holy because it is a battle for 
the tolerance of all religions and the freedom of all speech and all be- 



27 

liefs. Every young man who enlists" in our cause, rises to the dig- 
nity of the old soldier of the Republic; he puts himself upon the same 
footing with the soldiers of the first and second wars with Great 
Britain. Every young man who refuses, will one day blush to ex- 
plain to his inquiring children why he too was not in the fray and 
eager for the glorious strife in defending the Union against the 
great rebellion. 

Let all men then arouse themselves and respond to the call of 
their common country, by forgetting all feuds, and past differences, 
and standing together as one man, shoulder to shoulder in her de- 
fence. If we all do so, the great heart of the world will be 
cheered, humanity will have more hope, and then will be a gener- 
al jubilee of the nations. On the other hand, if by hatred, pas- 
sion and prejudice, we divide and differ, struggle feebly and fail, 
then the great battle is ended, and the capacity of the people to 
govern themselves is settled against them for ages. No more 
Washingtons, Adams, Jeffersons, Clays and Jacksons will rise up 
to fight the battles of the poor and lowly, but the shades of the 
mighty dead of past ages who loved their race, will come to the 
minds and imaginations of future patriots, and say in tones of 
solemn and sepulchral warning, "Cease, cease, it is all in vain and 
idle, those for whom you labor and toil will trample under foot the 
blessings you obtain for them, and sadden your after life with the 
catalogue of their follies and crimes. Leave them to their task- 
masters, fate wills it." 

I have only, then, to say in conclusion, that he who desires peace 
can only have it by sustaining the present war, which is for peace 
and order ; but which if it fails, will open the door to interminable 
wars; that he who would not give away his substance for the support 
of Government, can only attain his desire by supporting this war, 
which if it succeeds secures him a government which costs him, 
in a measure, nothing, and which if it fails will impose upon him 
and his children a burden of taxation impossible now to be esti- 
mated. If we send our last man and put in our last dollar to 
save the Union, and to save our present Government, I think we 
shall have done wisely and well ; nay, have made money by it. 
Generations unborn will bless us, and when the dark hour comes, 
and we must be ready to account at the final audit, I do not doubt 



28 

but that which we now give in support of the country's cause and 
for the Union, will be most cheerfully allowed to our credit. Let 
the Union then be our first, last and only care, as our only palla- 
dium for protection, our only safeguard against the worst dangers, 
the :irk of our Covenant with one another and with Heaven. May 
no sacriligious hand ever be laid upon it. 



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